Otis,
Ya asked me how it was going test driving animation software. I figured out this much today. This sh#t is easier than it looks. I want to see and play with some more software before deciding on which one to use.
Written by cartoonist Eric T Styles about moving into the French Quarter of New Orleans. The day to day experience of living in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The Quarter Rat is the name of the publication that Styles illustrates for featuring off the wall stories as told by locals who work as bartenders, bouncers, dancers and in the service industry on Bourbon Street.
Showing posts with label street performers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label street performers. Show all posts
Thursday, July 26, 2012
I got to get me some sleep, after I finish my last energy drink. Let me know what ya think.
Monday, July 2, 2012
yea? what?
HEY YOU blog reading muthafuckas, how da hell are ya? Sorry I've been drinking. Evidently when in the French Quarter sickening quantities of alcohol makes you a better writer, or so the history books make it seem. Money has been tight but tonight I splurged on a four loko and got a decent buzz. Now you are reading the effects of it. Tonight started out as my usual evening stroll with a sales call thrown in because I need the money. I haven't sold a fucking one, but had fun not doing it. I headed over to Mr Binky's on Chartres to see if they wanted to place an ad this month. Mr Binky's is a really cool adult shop with fuckin cool staff. I touched base with Vanish the clerk and he said to come back during 9 to 5 and speak with a manager. If I am awake between 9 and 5 I will go back.
I walked past the strip cub / brothel a few doors down where about two months ago I had an encounter. A scantily clad female (?) tried to entice me with "Hey honey, want to party?" "No thanks" I replied "I have somewhere to go..." "You ain't got nowhere to go, you ain't got no money anyways mutha fucka..." Fuck you skank. Tonight I walked past the same fine establishment when I was asked the very same question. "No thanks, I prefer my women without a penis..." Three steps later a cup filled with ice hit me between the shoulder blades.
I swung by and chatted with Catastrophe Curt and Blind Troy the street bluesman. Curt watches over Blind Troy on one of the toughest corners in the Quarter. About a month ago a couple of thugs tried to rob Troy and Curt took out after them. He grabbed one around the corner of Bourbon and Iberville. Curt chased them down when he caught up with one the punk turned around and stabbed Curt in the side. A dozen or so staples in the side later, we are all joking about it. This is the Quarter, your final mark may be a chalk outline.
I bullshitted with a Lucky Dog guy, a couple of doormen only to find my way back home. I don't want to live anyplace else.
I swung by and chatted with Catastrophe Curt and Blind Troy the street bluesman. Curt watches over Blind Troy on one of the toughest corners in the Quarter. About a month ago a couple of thugs tried to rob Troy and Curt took out after them. He grabbed one around the corner of Bourbon and Iberville. Curt chased them down when he caught up with one the punk turned around and stabbed Curt in the side. A dozen or so staples in the side later, we are all joking about it. This is the Quarter, your final mark may be a chalk outline.
I bullshitted with a Lucky Dog guy, a couple of doormen only to find my way back home. I don't want to live anyplace else.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Politics in the French Quarter
I haven't paid too much interest in NOLA politics. I'm not sure I can say that I have a firm grasp of the political system down here yet. Coming from New Jersey I understood them up there. Jersey's last scandal involved politicians on the take, mobsters and rabbis. Down here political families are immortalized for picking up strippers on Bourbon Street or being a power hungry madman and getting a bridge named after them.
Prior to that, political leaders used to have public duels and shoot one another. They play rough down in the Big Easy. I wish elected officials still settled things on the House floor by dueling to the death, I might start watching C-SPAN if they did. Perhaps instead of elections we give them all weapons and let them settle it like men. I'm not saying the survivors would necessarily be the best choice, but it would thin the herd faster than term limits. Unfortunately the best man would probably be Sarah Palin hanging out of a helicopter with a sniper rifle. I could picture Nancy Pelosi pointing a Russian made RPG back at her. She looks like she has stood behind a few being launched.
The French Quarter has had five flags fly over it. French, Spanish, English, Confederate and American. Napoleon had one hand in his vest while the other helped write the laws here. If they wanted something done right, they hired Pirates. Pirates, the original NAVY SEALS.
The basic premise behind politics is the same no matter where you go, "What's in it for them." The three branches of government are: the elected officials, corporations, and the taxpaying sheep. I know my place on that food chain. Recently two of those branches held a little PR parade through the Quarter. "Hospitality Zone" self promoting self pleasuring committee or something like that. Sounds great on the surface, promoting tourism in the city. What's in it for them? More money, more taxes. For us, a little more money, a lot more vomit on our doorsteps every morning.
Another red flag is an "Appointed committee." I understand that not every city related position can be filled with an election. So the premise is that you elect a few barely competent lawyers and trust them to fill needed positions with the best choices they can find. See the flaw in that ideal? We barely trust you guys that we voted in, now we must trust your buddies.
I won't attempt to explain the entire "HO ZONE" story. At first I thought it was just promoting the two blocks of businesses on Iberville Street between Bourbon and Decatur. But no, it's the the Quarter and parts of other neighborhoods.
Here are a few links:
Here are a few links:
New Orleanians: If you’re not disgusted by the proposed Hospitality District,
then you’re not paying attention
We Are a Community — Not a Commodity!
Hospitality District LA SB 573 amended, but not improved.
Genesis Report re: LA SB 573′s Hospitality District Legislation
Just ran into a good friend Rod the street magician at Walgreens. He said the city now wants to crack down on street performers. The city (or businesses) want only statue mimes since they don't hold a crowd. I know what the city is planning, they want to paint all of the homeless people on the benches silver. Do they plan to clean up the Quarter so much that it just becomes like Disneyworld's sanitized reproduction of the Quarter? It won't work Mitch, we ain't got mice, we gotz ratz.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
So much talent.....
New Orleans can boast of having excess in so many ways, humidity, beads, calories... and talent. Down here talent is the rule, not the exception. I have met and made friends with folks who are just overwhelming with creativity. Painters, musicians, writers and actors. I have hung out on a couch with friends channel surfing and stopped mid click to say "Hey look. There's my friend Robert playing a cop." I get to go out for a beer with the artist Peter O'Neill and we hardly talk about art, just politics.
My friend Chris over in the Marigny turned me onto the music of Canadian born Lindi Ortega. She has a voice that I could best describe as "haunting." Talented guitar player, writer and singer who is not hard to look at either. Chris showed me her video for "Black Fly" that was very well done and shot down in the swamps here in Louisiana. The song had my attention from the opening chords, her voice had me hooked. I dig old fashion dysfunctional love songs. As we watched the video on YOUTUBE, it suddenly struck me that my friend Chris was playing the drunk asshole boyfriend in the video. Again, in New Orleans you get accustomed to people you know personally popping up in TV commercials, on stage or in background of films. Chris is an extremly talented classical guitar player and actor. Although having hung out with him on Frenchman, I'm not too sure how much "acting" he did in this video.
Here are some links to Lindi Ortega, check out more of her work.
lindiortega.com
Here are some links to Lindi Ortega, check out more of her work.
lindiortega.com
Monday, February 13, 2012
Louie Louie
Friday night the Quarter Rat delivered the lattest issue (#26) to all of the finer drinking establishments in the French Quarter. Like the previous times the copies were dropped off by topless girls with their breasts painted in festive Mardi Gras themes. We started out with ten lovelies, I think only three managed to finish the route. One didn't even make it out of the first bar. Rather than writing about the night in my blog like I usually do, we videotaped the entire adventure. I know we should be able to edit it down to at least 30 minutes of non stop debauchery, nudity, stupidity and fun.
As Otis and I were unloading cases of the magazines from his car, I looked up across the street and famed street mime "Uncle Louie" was walking by with his bucket from working all day on Royal Street. It just turned out that Uncle Louie made the cover of this month's Quarter Rat. I grabbed a handful of copies for him and went over to hand them to him. I'll admit that I couldn't wait to see his reaction. Anyone who has visited the French Quarter has seen Louie in his pristine white suit posing on Royal, anyone who lives in the Quarter has shaken his hand and probably had a drink or two with him. A real cool man who is a staple to the French Quarter.
We had to videotape the evening because I really don't think anyone outside of the Quarter believes the stuff I write about. We couldn't get our buddy Zan and his pedicar to help deliver the boxes this time around. Zan said that he had a wheel fall off or something. (Personally, we think his wife got tired of him peddling up and down Bourbon Street with topless young women. We're not sayin, just sayin.) So I dressed up like a homeless guy and pushed a shopping cart around the Quarter loaded with cases of magazines. At one point on Lower Decatur Street I passed an actual homeless guy with a shopping cart loaded with personal belongings. Awkward at first, I had to comment to him about his cart "Nice model, what year is it?"
Towards the end of the night we had to meet up with the remaining girls and the rest of our krewe at the Ginger Lime Japanese restaurant at 200 Decatur. They treated us great with fantastic food. I vaguely remember eating sushi off of a couple of the women. We had a few block to travel to get there so we broke up into small groups and hopped into Pedicabs for the journey. I however was stuck with a shopping cart loaded with magazines and almost had to walk. Otis yelled "Styles! Sit on your cart and hang on to the back of the Pedicab and he'll tow you." So, dressed like a homeless guy I was towed behind one of the bikes down several blocks of Royal Street. All night I had been rolling ontop of the shopping cart. It was like "Jackass on Bourbon Street" I did take a spill when the front wheels of the cart dug into a pothole. You'll have to wait for the video.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hey Kiddo
Laura, I probably think about you a hundred times a day. Miss you very much and can't wait to have you down to New Orleans to show you this great city and to see how much you've grown. I brought my camera in today to take some photos at work and to show you what I do down here. I have been working 6 to 7 days a week painting the Pontalba apartments on Jackson Square. It's a lot of work but it keeps me out of trouble, believe me it's easy to get in trouble when you live in the French Quarter. You don't have to look for trouble, it finds you. Besides I need to work a lot with Christmas coming up. ; )
These buildings were constructed by Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba in the 1840's. She was a strong independant woman for her time and had her hand in the designing of these apartments for $300,000 on land she inherited from her father. Originally the land was occupied by military barracks and a prison.
In the photo of me (not very flattering) over my right shoulder you can get a glimpse of the Cabildo where they signed the Louisiana purchase in 1803.
Here are some photos that I took from the third floor balcony where I take my cigarette breaks. Below in the Square are artists selling artwork and street performers doing their acts as hundreds of tourists mill about.
You can see the Mississippi River from the balcony. It's cool to watch huge cargo ships cruise up and down the river. These things are massive, they are as big as skyscrapers lying on their sides.
Here is one of the rooms that I finished today. It's a smaller dining room with marble floors and mantle. I painted the walls and installed the chandelier. I'll show you some more photos of rooms as they become completed. I'm always thinking about you, hope to see you soon.
Love Dad
Monday, October 24, 2011
Television in the French Quarter, Why?
Like an ex smoker who is quick to mouth off when someone lights up, or a self righteous recovered alcoholic bragging about how many years he has been dry, I'm going off on Television. Finally having a place of my own there is no longer the drone of a TV constantly in the background. I'll admit when given access to one I have 24 hour news going during my waking hours. Determined to break that bad habit, especially in these days of 24 hour conflicts, riots, economic crisis and impending doom I made a choice of turning down a free television offered to me for my new place.
This video was shot about 100 feet from my front door.
I live in the most entertaining city in the nation, if not the world. Why would I want to sit in my apartment and stare at a video feed of corporate sponsored, agenda driven mindless fluff? I do watch a couple YOUTUBE videos and news features before bed, but just waiting for them to load causes me to grow impatient and retire. Most nights I get restless and go for a stroll. On any given night I can catch blues, jazz, folk, rock musicians, magicians, jugglers or acrobatic break dancers. I understand very few people have this blessing of live entertainment literally outside their front door, I hope I never become blase' about living in the Quarter.
This is where I do my grocery shopping.
I'd be surprised if you could get cable television for under $50 a month, so I make it a point to drop a buck in the tip bucket when I really enjoy a performance. That's only $30 a month for the best live performances every night of the week. On my long three block walk home from work, I pass Grandpa Elliott every night on the corner of Toulouse and Royal. How can I complain that when I "make groceries" at Rouses market, and I have to push through a small crowd gathered on the sidewalk watching musicians. That's a minor inconvenience for living here.
The CVS Pharmacy is a nightly stop for smokes.
I know that if I lived back in the gray dreary suburbs of New Jersey I would probably have a television just to numb my mind enough to get to sleep at night. In my opinion having a television when living in the French Quarter would be like living in the Playboy Mansion and sneaking in a copy of Hustler magazine to my room. It just ain't right.
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